HP FB500 and 700
I just returned from the HP Experience in Atlanta yesterday. Was able to spend one on one time with a service tech and watched and worked with both the HP FB500 and 700. Very sweet printers. The 500 is perfect for a small to midsize shop that does between 500k to 850K in gross sales. Smaller footprint and with all the bells and whistles will cost about $125k. They have the white ink option, additional tables, roll to roll. Will do about 375 sq/ft/hr on outdoor quality. The 700 is much larger. Do not need the extra tables unless you plan to feed two 48" x 96" sheets in side by side. The 700 is in the ball park of $175K. Same print speed just had the billboard print option and can be controlled with a foot pedal. Pretty cool option. Would be a great printer for a larger shop. The inks are in the 3L box size and costs in the range of $500/box. The ink adhesion is unreal. I was not able to scratch the ink off with a quarter. Bent, folded and twisted a printed sheet of 4mm coro and this didnt even crack or damage the ink. The colors were also some of the best I have seen. Was using the Onyx Rip and print some of my own files. I currently have the old Colorspan 5465. Night and day. I had my sights and wallet set on the Gerber Ion but since that printer has been discontinued I am now leaning toward the FB500. Would love to hear from anyone who has a FB500.
